A New Day
by MWMaenad
Summary: Rory has a perfect relationship with Jess, but what will happen when Tristan comes back to Chilton? Rated M. Kind of sick and twisted.
1. Chapter 1

Jess sat at the bus stop, casually looking over a book and waiting for Rory to get back from school. He couldn't focus well on the book because he kept looking up every time he heard a car, hoping that it was Rory, somehow back early. Of course she was never early, and more often than not she was late. It wasn't her fault though. She had so much to do with school work, the newspaper and a million other Chilton things.

Jess had been waiting on the bench since school let out at Stars Hollow High, and was getting impatient. They had plans to see a movie tonight and then he was hoping there would be time for a quick makeout session before she had to run home to finish her homework.

Finally Jess saw the bus turn the corner and head towards the bench. He kept looking at his book though, as the bus came to a stop and Rory hopped out. He finally put the book down as she approached him. "Hey" he said. She looked troubled by something. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing really, just a long day. And this guy came back to school who used to bother me, but that was a couple years ago."  
"What guy?" asked Jess suspiciously.

"His name is Tristan. I don't think you ever would have heard of him. He was sent to military school after getting in trouble but now he is back at Chilton."

"How did he used to bother you?"

"Oh well he would always call me Mary and try to cause trouble when I was with Dean. I didn't even see him today though, so he must not be in any of my classes. I just heard that he was back."

"Oh, well he better leave you alone."

"I'm sure he will."

And with that Rory and Jess headed to the Gilmore house so that Rory could drop off her insanely heavy backpack before they went to the movie. Jess was worried though. He didn't know what had been between her and Tristan but it was obvious that she was affected by his return. He thought about the day he came back to Stars Hollow, at Sookie's wedding and how she had kissed him even though she was with Dean. 'We belong together though, and they didn't.' he reassured himself. He decided to see what information he could gather about this Tristan, and other than that just wait and see what happened. One thing was sure though, he wasn't going to let anyone mess up his relationship.

They got to the house and Jess halted. "I'll just wait out here, your mom doesn't even really like me anyway."

"Oh, okay if thats what you want. I'll be right out."

Rory was used to Jess being a recluse but wished that he got along better with her mom. It was mostly her moms fault though, because she didn't even want to try to get to know the real Jess.

"Mom, I'm home!" she called as she came through the door.

"In here!" a voice yelled from the living room. "Come quick!"

Rory rushed into the room, only to find her mom modeling a new pair of socks. Kitten socks. With big sappy eyes on them, and a tail. "This is the emergency?" Rory said, exasperated.

"Of course not. These are kitten socks. But look, oh no! They are chasing each other!"

"Okay mom." Rory had to smile in spite of herself. "I'm just dropping off my books and then I'm going to a movie."

"With Jess?" her mom finished. "Yes, with Jess." Rory confirmed.

"Oh well be home early."

"I will, it's a school night."

Rory ran upstairs to throw on other clothes, wanting to get out of her Chilton uniform. She then ran out the door to meet Jess who was still waiting by the mailbox. Lorelai waved out the window to them, or at least to Rory, as they walked down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Rory woke up and remembered school, and the fact that she might run into Tristan. She wondered what he would be like, after all this time. Would they still be friends? Were they ever friends? Was it okay to be friends with him? She had no answer to all the questions floating around in her brain as she got ready for school. She didn't even know if she would see him at all, so maybe it didn't matter. She remembered the worry that had crossed Jess's face last night, when she mentioned Tristan. She had seen that look on Dean too, except with Dean there had been anger mixed in as well. With Dean it had been impossible for her to ever be his friend because they hated each other so much. 'Well, he is probably still a jerk anyway' she thought. Besides, Tristan didn't even matter, she was with Jess and she loved Jess.

She went downstairs to find her mom had not yet made coffee. Heading upstairs, she realized that her mom hadn't even woken up yet, and she had been so busy thinking about Tristan that she had let her oversleep.

"Mom!" she called, waking her up. "Wake up! You'll be late."

Lorelai made some inarticulate groan, and attempted to turn over. "Not today Mom, I let you oversleep and you really have to get up right now."

Lorelai finally opened her eyes a little. "Five more minutes."

"No, now!"

"On mornings like this I wonder why I had you." Lorelai started to stumble to her feet as Rory turned to run back downstairs.

"To make the coffee." She responded and went to the kitchen to prepare it.

On the way to the bus Rory looked around for Jess, who was often around in the mornings when she got on the bus to Hartford. She looked through the windows at Luke's and saw him in there, so Luke must have needed the help this morning. She caught his eye and waved. He returned the gesture with a nod of his head.

Rory smiled at how grumpy he looked this morning. 'A lot like Luke' she thought.

She then pulled out a large volume of Greek mythology for the morning bus ride.

By the time she got to school, Rory was subconsciously scanning the area for Tristan. They hadn't been friends at first, but somehow an understanding had developed before he had been sent to military school and she wondered if it would still be there.

But Tristan was nowhere in sight, so she headed to her locker to deposit her books.

As Rory opened up her locker and started to put her books away, a shadow fell across the lockers next to hers. "Hello Mary." a familiar voice said.

Rory turned around and saw Tristan standing in front of her. Surprisingly, he looked much the same as the last time she had seen him. "Oh hi Tristan. I see that your absence has made you forget my name. So, as a reminder, it's Rory." Rory wasn't sure how to feel about seeing him.

"Someones off her meds. Aren't you happy to see me?" he responded.

"I guess. How have you been Tristan? And how did you get out of military school?"

"Well, I was a very good boy, so my father let me out early. He thought I'd get a better education at Chilton anyway."

"I hope you won't get in so much trouble this time." Rory found that she genuinely meant it. She had never liked to see Tristan in trouble.

"I'll try, but I might need a chaperon." Tristan said with a wink.

Rory gave him a slightly disgusted look and walked away to her English class.


	3. Chapter 3

Jess was waiting for her again at the bus stop. She had been especially late today because Paris had decided to have an extra meeting of the Franklin. She smiled apologetically at Jess, but realized that it was nice not to have to worry about the time so much. With Dean there probably would already have been 15 messages asking where she was. Jess was just there, entertaining himself until she got home.

"So, how was your day?" he asked. Rory smiled at how polite he was being. She knew he was probably still bothered about Tristan, and wanted to hear if she had talked to him. "Oh it was fine, nothing too much happened. Paris made us stay late for the Franklin."

Jess looked somewhat relieved. Rory didn't mention that she had seen Tristan. She wasn't sure why. It wasn't like she had anything to hide. But she wasn't sure what Jess would think, or how seriously to take Tristan's flirting. And she didn't need school to be any harder than it already was. Today Jess just walked her home, because he had to work at the diner and she had to work on an article for the paper. They kissed goodbye, and Rory felt herself drawn to him, getting pulled farther into the kiss. She pulled away, wanting to continue, but knowing that they couldn't. Without a word she went up the stairs to the house. Jess lingered for a moment, not wanting to lose that feeling of kissing her. She was always gone way too fast. Then he turned around and walked back to Luke's ready for another fun-filled afternoon of waiting on people.

Rory pulled out her papers and started to work when the phone rang. It was Lane.

"Oh hey Lane, what's up?"

"Not too much, I just had a strange talk with Jess today and wanted to ask you about it. Why is he asking about Tristan all of a sudden?"

"Oh because Tristan is back at school." Rory answered, wondering if Jess had really been that bothered by her mentioning Tristan. "What did he want to know?"

"He's back at school? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Lane seemed to have missed Rory's second question.

"He came back yesterday but I didn't see him. I didn't mention it to you because I didn't talk to you. I didn't think it was as big a deal as everyone else seems to."

"Rory of course its a big deal. The kid was crazy about you. Even I knew that, and I barely saw him."

"You didn't tell Jess that, did you?"

"Well sort of, but not really. I mean, I thought it was ancient history. He just asked what I knew about a Tristan from Chilton. So I told him that he was a guy that used to go there that would bother you because he liked you."

"Oh... well he didn't seem too wigged out when I saw him today, so maybe he is fine with things."

"Did Tristan talk to you today?" asked Lane curiously.

"A little." Rory admitted. "He said hi, said he was back and that was pretty much it. I don't know if we are still friends of if we ever really were."

"Rory, you know I had trouble adjusting to the whole Jess situation, but take my advice and stay away from Tristan if you like Jess. If you are nice to Tristan I'm sure he will think that you are leading him on. You do want to be with Jess, don't you?"

"Of course I do Lane. I've never liked Tristan, at least not like that. I mean, all we had between us was that one stupid kiss, and that was a huge mistake. I don't intend on becoming best friends with Tristan either, I just don't want to have to walk on eggshells around Jess the way I did with Dean."

"Alright, I guess I should go. And if Jess asks again I'll downplay anything with Tristan."

"You don't have to do that, nothing has ever really happened."

"Okay, well bye."

"Bye."

Rory put down the phone, suddenly troubled. She wondered what Jess was thinking about it, and exactly why he was so bothered about Tristan. She still lived in the same town as Dean and saw him all the time but Jess didn't seem to be at all concerned about that.


	4. Chapter 4

Jess was worried about Tristan, more than he cared to admit. He knew that Rory had seen Tristan, and talked to him. He knew her well enough to read the expression in her blue eyes when he had asked about school. He also knew how much time Rory spent at school. He wasn't worried enough to let it ruin anything though. Until there was evidence that Tristan still like her or was trying to insinuate himself in their relationship he was going to play it cool. Still a deep, cold anger burned in him. He had lost too much already in his life to now lose Rory too.

Lane hadn't been sure if Rory and Tristan were friends too, and Jess didn't want to dictate her friends. 'He better keep his hands off her though' Jess thought darkly. He loved Rory and wanted to protect her too. And the last thing she needed now was some rich playboy to come and mess with their lives.

Jess swiped at the counter he was cleaning, fighting the urge to call Rory and ask for details. He was sure she would have told him if it was any big deal. Wouldn't she?

Lane had probably told her that they had talked, so maybe she would explain everything the next time they saw each other. Although Rory's busy schedule was making it increasingly more difficult to spend any time together. Jess didn't want to be a crazy jealous guy though, so he put Tristan out of his mind as he worked.

His thoughts were interrupted by an annoyed voice.

"Jess, what are you doing?" Luke asked, watching Jess wipe the counter over and over. "I think it's clean, unless you are expecting the health inspector, in which case I think you should start with the bathroom upstairs."

Jess tried to come up with a smart ass answer. He failed.

"I don't know how you can stand this boring job." he finally answered. He put down the cloth and headed upstairs. Turning the music on he pulled out a book and read until he fell asleep.

He only woke up a couple hours later when the phone rang. Turning down the music just barely he answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's me!" a familiar voice said.

"Hi Rory. What time is it?"

"Fall asleep again?" she teased. "It's 7:30. I finished my work and I was wondering if you want to get together for a while. If you aren't busy that is."

"Nope. Want to meet here?"

"Sure, I'll see you in a few minutes."

Jess put down the phone and got out of bed, throwing on a jacket. He walked downstairs and called to Luke "I'm going out with Rory. I'll be back later."

Luke nodded at him. "Don't keep her out all night."

Rory appeared at the door, somewhat breathless. She smiled at Jess. "It's cold out, so I walked really fast." she explained, going straight to the counter for coffee. "Coffee to go please Luke."

Luke poured the coffee with a disapproving look, then turned back to the register where he was sorting receipts.

Jess took Rory's elbow and steered her out the door, wanting to avoid any of Luke's normal advice. "So, what do you want to do?" he asked when they were safely down the street.

"This." Rory said, putting a hand to his face and kissing him. Jess didn't argue as he wrapped his arms around her.

They kissed for several minutes, but Rory broke the kiss when she realized that her coffee was now cool enough to drink. She sipped at it as they discussed books, tvs and movies.

"The movies out right now really demonstrate the sad affair of American culture." Rory commented, looking over a newspaper clip of what was currently playing.

"Yeah, and you want to see them." Jess said. "I do, but only because I can appreciate them on all the different levels of sub intelligence they represent." Rory countered.

Suddenly Jess grabbed her and kissed her again. Rory felt dizzy and warm as she kissed him back. He made her knees melt. She had realized long before that unfortunately, with Jess, all the old clichés about love were true. She felt his hot breath on her neck and responded with a passionate kiss.

They broke away from each other, looking at each other and panting slightly.

"That was a wildly inappropriate place for that." She commented, realizing how close they were to Doose's Market and Miss Patty's. "I don't want to become front page news for the Stars Hollow Gazette."

"Local hoodlum seduces town Princess?" Jess suggested. "I was thinking more like "Those Crazy Kids: An Expose on Teens and Sex in a Small Town." "That sounds promising." Jess responded, with a slight smile. He had temporarily forgotten all about Tristan.

They contented themselves with just holding hands until they could get to a darker spot. Suddenly they heard a voice calling for Rory from across the street. "Oh, it's Babette. I should see what she wants."

"Rory!" called Babette, out for a walk with Morey. "Your mom said that if we saw you out we should tell you to go home."

"Is something going on?" Rory asked with some worry. "Oh no, I don't think so. I'm not sure."

"Oh well thanks Babette." Rory turned to Jess. "I guess I should be getting home."

Jess looked at her with disappointment. "I guess." he said. He gave her a quick kiss goodbye and then watched her turn around to head home. That seemed to be their whole relationship lately.


	5. Chapter 5

Rory walked quickly to her house, wondering what her mother wanted. When she got there she stopped short. There was a strange car in the driveway.

Lorelai met Rory on the porch. "I know you were out with Jess, but then Paris showed up, something about the paper, and she wouldn't leave. She said she needed to go over something with you. And that girl scares me, so you go in there right now and make her go away." Lorelai shoved Rory through the door. Rory found Paris sitting on the couch, going through some issues of the Franklin.

She looked up as Rory and Lorelai came in.

"Rory, good. I was looking through some of these issues and there seems to be a slight decline in quality, starting four issues ago. Now the page count is still the same, but if you will notice, the quality of the stories themselves is questionable. I was going through the issues and I realized that we haven't had a hard hitting relevant story in some time. I was going to bring this up at the next meeting, but I wanted to have a solution first, so I called you. You didn't answer, so I came over."

"Paris, why did you come to talk to me about it? Couldn't you have talked to Madeline or Louise?"

"Oh that would have been a really productive night. Now I need you to look over the cover stories for the last few issues and tell me what you think. Then we can go over my notes and discuss what to do."

Rory shot a helpless look and a shrug to Lorelai. The paper was important to her. Lorelai nodded and came back a few minutes later with soda and some Chinese food.

"You girls hungry?" she asked.

Rory and Paris ate slowly as they worked on ideas for the paper for the next few hours. Just as Paris was getting ready to go she commented to Rory "Tristan has changed, hasn't he?"

"I didn't really talk to him, I wouldn't know."

"Well, don't worry about me, I have Jamie. But trust me Gilmore, he still likes you."

Rory blushed a little but didn't say anything except "See you tomorrow Paris."

She shut the door behind the girl and stood thinking about what she had said. She hadn't ever even been that sure that Tristan had liked her in the first place, and she didn't know what he had said to Paris to make her think that he liked her now, but either way, it wasn't good.

'Just what I need." she thought. 'As if having Dean always watching me isn't bad enough, now school will be more complicated because of Tristan.'

She sighed and shut the door behind her. At least she was busy, and that always took her mind off her problems, but when was she going to get some alone time with Jess?

And speaking of Jess... she knew she had to have a talk with her mom.

Lorelai was already in the living room, talking to the couches. Paris had been there for a while, so Lorelai had confined herself to the kitchen to let the girls study.

"Hey mom, there's a little time before I go to bed, what do you want to watch?" Rory asked. Lorelai flipped on the tv, searching for something inane. It didn't take long. "This looks sufficiently stupid." She commented, not even bothering to check what show she had turned on.

"Hey Mom, um I don't know how much you want to know, or anything like that and I don't want to weird you out, but you once said you wanted to know if things were going to happen, you know like with me and a guy, and I wanted to let you know that maybe things will. Happen I mean."

Rory felt completely awkward. Lorelai didn't look any better.

"You mean with Jess?"

"Yeah, with Jess."

"Is this a right now kinda thing, or a heads up kinda thing."

"It's an, 'I've been thinking about it' kinda thing. I just don't know how he feels or if we are there yet. But I did want to tell you."

"Well thanks kid."

Rory quickly interjected. "And no jokes, please."

"Deal." said Lorelai and they settled down to watch tv. Lorelai still had a strange look on her face as she realized that Rory was really growing up.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day at school Rory was once again confronted by Tristan. She almost dreaded seeing him because she didn't want to be friends with him, not if it complicated her life. And she certainly didn't want him to have a crush on her. But the first thing he asked made it obvious to her what he was thinking.

"So, Mary, do you still have your boyfriend?"

Rory knew he meant Dean and wasn't sure how to answer. "No, well yes, sort of."

Tristan looked confused.

"I mean, no I'm not still with Dean, but I have a boyfriend Jess."

"Oh, a Jess. Well I'm glad you got rid of that Dean, he was an ass."

"I'm sure he would say the same thing about you."

"How long have you had a Jess?" Tristan asked. "A couple months." Rory replied. Tristan felt more bold than he ever had.

"Rory, look I know you have a boyfriend, and I know that you and I haven't always been friends in the past, but can we go out once?" He realized immediately that she would say no. "Just as friends." he said quickly. "We haven't seen each other in a while, and I did consider you one of my friends."

Rory debated. "Well I guess we can. You did call me Rory after all." Rory wasn't sure why she had agreed. She didn't want to necessarily hang out with Tristan, and she really didn't want to hurt Jess.

"What are you doing after school?" Tristan asked.

"Well we were going to have a meeting for the Franklin but half the people are out sick today, so its postponed until tomorrow, so I guess nothing." Rory couldn't believe what she was saying. She should go home and see Jess.

Tristan smiled. "Okay well meet me outside the school, in the front and I'll take you out to eat. I can drive you home too, so you won't be late."

"Okay" Rory agreed doubtfully. Tristan did seem changed though. He still acted cocky but he was much nicer to her. Maybe they could be friends.

Tristan gave her an arrogant smirk of a smile as he walked away. Rory stumbled to her next class, wondering how she had agreed to this. Of course, Jess would just assume that she was having her meeting. And she wasn't really doing anything wrong in hanging out with Tristan as friends. But if that was the case, why didn't she want to tell Jess? She knew why of course, because Jess would think that it was wrong. He had never even met the guy, they barely saw each other, and here she was spending time with another guy. But she and Jess didn't have specific plans for tonight anyway, she rationalized to herself. They almost never did. Jess wasn't one for keeping schedules. Rory promised herself that this would be the only time she would lie to Jess, or at least withhold anything from him.

She finished the rest of the school day with some trepidation. She kept second guessing her answer to Tristan, wondering if he really meant what he said about them being friends. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

Despite her doubts, Rory was waiting for Tristan in front of the school when class let out. He was there shortly after and led her to his car. She got in, depositing her backpack on the back seat. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Tristan smiled. "You'll see."

He took her to a nice, quiet restaurant where they sat and talked. They talked about the last couple years, what they had been doing with their lives. Tristan talked a little about military school. He admitted that he had hated it and was glad to be back. "I've thought of you. A lot." he also admitted. Tristan knew that he didn't want to wait this time until her relationship got too serious. This was his chance and he was going to take it.

"Tristan, don't start. We are friends, remember." chided Rory. She felt very uncomfortable with the way he kept looking at her, and when he mentioned her in something other than a friend capacity.

"We don't have to be. Rory I know you have a boyfriend but you have to admit there has always been something between us."

"No Tristan, there hasn't." Rory said firmly. "We hated each other, and at most we were almost friends. There is nothing between us. And I really love Jess."

"Does he know you are here with me?" Tristan asked. He knew by the look on her face that he had hit a nerve.

"No, he doesn't." Rory admitted, unable to lie.

"Well then you can't say that there is nothing between us." countered Tristan.

Rory got up and left the restaurant, not wanting to talk to Tristan, to deal with his logic. She felt the cool air on her hot face, wondering how she had gotten herself into this situation. And Tristan didn't look about to give up. He followed her out.

"I know that you have some kind of feeling for me. You can't deny it, I know you do. Now forget the other guy for a minute and tell me, honestly, if no other guy existed you wouldn't give me a chance."

Rory looked defiant. "You can't ask that of me because someone else does exist. I can't pretend that he doesn't. And not only do I not want to hurt him, but I love him, I want to be with him. Look I appreciate the food but please just take me home now. I don't want to talk about this with you anymore."

Tristan suddenly grabbed Rory and kissed her, passionately. He was trying desperately to get her to admit the feelings he knew where there, somewhere. But Rory pushed him away violently.

"Get off me Tristan. And forget the ride, I'll get my own way home." She walked quickly away from him, face burning, but angry.

Tristan could do nothing but watch her go. He knew he had gone too far and that he shouldn't have pushed her like that, shouldn't have kissed her.

Tears welled up in Rory's eyes as she rode the bus home. 'I cheated.' she thought to herself. 'How could all this have happened?' What was worse was that she knew that Tristan was partly right. There had been an attraction there, but what she had with Jess was so much more important. And she hated herself for having done anything that could ruin it. She decided that she couldn't tell Jess, she would just pretend she went to the meeting and that was it, end of story, no mention of it again, ever. She would have to avoid Tristan from now on, but she hoped he had gotten the message and was ready to leave her alone. She brushed the tears away that spilled down her cheek. Their relationship had been so perfect and now it felt like one big lie. She remembered how she had felt when she had kissed Tristan the last time. It had been Dean then that she had been hurting and although she still felt bad about it, she didn't feel the same sense of loss that she felt when she thought about what Jess would look like if he found out.

The bus ride that day felt especially long, and Rory kept watching the clock, as if she could make time slow down mentally. She hoped to get home around the normal time so there would be no suspicion, from Jess or from her mom.

She finally hopped off the bus and ran home, picked up the phone and called Jess right away. She needed to see him, to assure herself that he was still there, and Tristan could fade into a distant memory. The phone rang and rang, he wasn't there. Just then she realized that her backpack was still in the back of Tristan's car.


	8. Chapter 8

Tristan was still standing there, looking after Rory, when he was confronted by a very angry person. "What were you doing kissing my girlfriend?" Jess asked, making every word sound like a threat.

"You're Jess?" Tristan asked, surprised.

"Oh, you took your tongue out of her mouth long enough to hear about me? Yes, I'm Jess, her boyfriend."

"Well I didn't know you, but I wanted Rory, so I went for it. And she turned me down."

"I saw that, but I cannot believe you had the audacity to even try something with her. Now listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once, leave her alone. Don't talk to her, don't look at her."

Tristan said nothing just turned to walk back to his car. Jess pushed past him, picked up the book bag from the back seat, and then walked back to his own car, almost shaking with anger.

He was hurt that Rory had been out with Tristan at all, especially without telling him, but had clearly seen that she had in no way invited the kiss.

He drove home, trying to calm himself down. He stopped by Rory's house. They really needed to talk.

Rory saw the car pull into the driveway and ran down.

"Jess, I'm so glad to see you!" she said, somewhat breathlessly. Jess could see that her feelings were genuine. He handed her the backpack. Rory stopped short. She had been caught. She looked guiltily at Jess. "Thanks." she said, wondering how much he knew.

"Do you have something you want to tell me?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, I do. Come in and I'll explain." Jess hesitated. "Mom isn't home." Rory assured him.

Together the stepped inside and sat down on the couch.

"Okay I know it was really bad, but I had no intention of hurting you. I don't even know why I agreed to go, but he said we should go out and catch up, as friends. But I didn't tell you because I knew that you would be upset, even though I have no feelings for him. So we went out and had dinner but then he was saying things that made me uncomfortable so I left, he followed me out and..." Rory paused, seeing how Jess was taking things so far. He looked surprisingly calm. "He kissed me, but I pushed him away and told him to leave me alone. I am so sorry Jess, I didn't want to hurt you and I felt terrible and I will never let anything like that happen again. But what are you doing with my backpack?"

Jess took her hand to let her know he wasn't mad.

"I knew most of that, so I'm really glad that you told me the truth. I went to pick you up from school today after your meeting so you wouldn't have to take the bus. But then I found out there was no meeting and you weren't there. At first I assumed that you were just on the bus already, headed for home or already home. So as I was turning around to go back I happened to see your backpack in the back of a car. I sat there for a minute trying to figure out who it could be and then you walked out of the restaurant, followed by who I guess was Tristan. I saw him kiss you and I saw you push him away. When you walked off I confronted him and told him not to come near you again."

Rory looked concerned. "What happened?"

"Nothing really, I just told him to leave you alone, he walked away, I took your bag and came here. End of story. Rory I don't want to tell you who to be friends with, but I also don't want this happening again. In the future if you are going to go out with someone at least let me know. And also tell me if Tristan says something to you again."

Rory was thankful that Jess was taking everything so well. "I will, I am really sorry Jess."

Jess wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss. It started out affectionate but then deepened into a passionate embrace. They slowly started to intertwine themselves on the couch, full of emotion and lust. Rory had no regrets about Tristan when Jess kissed her. She knew that this was where she belonged. Her hands wandered under his jacket, holding him and drawing him to her. Their kisses became quicker, with more urgency. Jess reached down to feel her breast.

Just then the door opened and they jumped up guiltily. They straightened themselves out quickly just before Lorelai walked into the room. Fortunately she was too distracted to notice the remaining traces of their excitement.

"Rory, you will not believe what happened at the Inn today. Okay so I was in the kitchen getting coffee when Sookie told me that she had accidentally sent out the wrong dish to someone. So first she had to remember what dish it was, which she could only do by the garnish, then we had to rush out there to stop the waiter, switch dishes, it was this whole big fiasco."

Lorelai babbled on, not having noticed Jess at first. Then she spotted him.

"Oh Jess, hi."

Jess nodded at her, suddenly silent. Rory knew he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Mom, Jess was just leaving, he has to work at the diner."

"Bye Jess." said Lorelai.

"Later." he said, and headed out the door, giving Rory a quick squeeze on the hand to thank her for getting him out of there.


	9. Chapter 9

Tristan did seem to be avoiding Rory because she didn't run into him for most of the rest of the week. She still felt guilty for betraying Jess's trust, so she called him every day after school to let him know which days she would be home and which days she had to stay after. Paris was still no closer to coming up with a really good story but for now there were no more extra meetings.

Rory and Jess had been able to spend some time together, although they hadn't managed to have much alone time. Rory was still conflicted about sleeping with Jess. Her body had a strong physical reaction when she was around him. She felt flushed and tingly when they kissed and it was getting harder to stop. She felt ready, but was he?

These thoughts were going through her head when she bumped into Tristan in the hall.

He stopped her before she could speak. "Before you say anything, I want to tell you that I'm not giving up on you. Your boyfriend is a psycho and you and I belong together."

"Tristan, go away. It isn't even a choice for me, I want to be with Jess."

"No, Rory, I know you don't. Just don't dismiss me before you give us a chance. Please."

Tristan looked intently at her, and she felt herself wilting under his gaze. His eyes looked so intense.

"Tristan, I'm not going to talk about this with you here. So just go."

Rory turned around to leave herself, and as she did Tristan slipped something into her bag without her noticing. He hoped she would find it when she was alone, and that it might change her mind about him.

Rory went home angry at Tristan for ruining everything. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She didn't know if she should tell Jess. It would only bother him and he couldn't do anything about it, and this time there was no fault on her end, so she really wasn't keeping anything from him. She decided not to mention it and just have a nice time that night with Jess.

And they did have a nice time. Luke had to meet with some bankers so he left Ceasar in charge of the diner. Rory and Jess had some quality time upstairs by themselves. They tried to watch tv, talk about books, but ended up with their clothes in disarray, breathing heavily and wanting to go farther. But Rory held back, still uncertain. Jess didn't push her, but instead offered that to spend more time together they could work on their homework together.

Rory agreed and opened her back. And that was when she saw it, the small black velvety box. She picked it up curiously, opened it to find a diamond necklace. And a note from Tristan. She shut the box quickly, angrily.

Jess took it from her and looked. The note was simple, it just said "To Rory from Tristan" but it was enough to make him see red. Now this punk was trying to bribe her away from him? So the kid had money, so what?

But Jess determined to put an end to it, once and for all. All the anger and frustration that had been building in him, not just now but his whole life seemed to surface suddenly.

Rory tried to stammer something, but had no explanation.

"Did you know this was in there?" Jess asked.

Rory shook her head. "And is there anything you aren't telling me?" Jess pressed.

"He tried to talk to me today but I left. Thats all."

Jess nodded, knowing she was telling the truth. "Then it doesn't matter." he said.

Rory leaned in to kiss him again. "Thanks for believing me. I really want nothing to do with him."

Jess nodded tightly. "It's okay, I believe you. And hopefully he will get tired of these games soon."


	10. Chapter 10

It was later that night, and Jess was preparing to confront Tristan again. He pulled some things together and got into his car. He didn't even know specifically what he was going to do, or what he was going to say, but he knew that tonight he was going to end it, make Tristan leave her alone for good. He had looked up Tristan's family, knew where he lived.

He finally pulled up to the house, mostly dark. He threw a rock at the only bright window, instinctively knowing that it was Tristan's. Tristan opened the window, looked down. "Who's there?" he asked, looking into the darkness.

Jess counted on him thinking it could be Rory, too nervous to speak but reacting to the extravagant gift.

Tristan finally opened the door, and stepped outside. He looked around, hopeful that it would be Rory he would find there. He stepped off the doorstep and into the darkened yard.

Thats when Jess made his move. Quickly, he wrapped an arm around Tristan, holding the blade of his knife to the other boy's throat. "One move, one sound and you are dead." he warned Tristan, backing him to his car.

He could see Tristan starting to sweat, wondering what was going on. "I just want to talk." said Jess. "But not here."

Once in the car he quickly tied Tristan's hands and feet and blindfolded him. He drove a ways until he was satisfied with the location. Tristan tried to talk a couple times, tried to reason with him, but Jess quickly silenced him with the knife to his throat.

Untying Tristan's feet, Jess lead him out of the car, into the nearby woods. Tristan was shaking a little, but Jess didn't care. He could feel nothing but spite. He had nothing until Rory, and he wasn't about to lose her.

Finally, he stopped. "You couldn't just leave Rory alone, could you?" he said with venom. "You had to try and show her how rich you are, what fancy presents you can buy her. Well she doesn't care."

Tristan opened his mouth to speak, and at that moment Jess cut him, a swift cut across his throat. It wasn't as deep as he would have liked, but plenty deep enough. Tristan was unable to scream. Blood poured from the wound in his neck, and a gurgling sound came from his throat. Jess held him up still, and plunged the knife into his stomach. Then he let go and Tristan fell forward, to the ground. He wasn't dead yet though, and jerked around a little, still gurgling. Jess turned him over to see the blood covering his face and chest, eyes bulging from their sockets. The (soon to be) corpse still tried to move, to get away. Jess pulled the knife out and stabbed him again, this time nearly severing his head off. Tristan was dead.

Jess couldn't control his anger as he stabbed the body again and again, in the chest, the arms, the stomach, the genitals. He looked at the face, and his anger exploded within him again. He wasn't even thinking about what he was doing as he cut out the eyeballs, cut open the stomach and pulled out the intestines. The area stank of hot blood. Jess had reached his hands into the still warm body and cut up the organs he found inside.

Then he realized what he was doing. Jess came back to himself all of a sudden. He had come here intending to scare Tristan, but he hadn't fully decided on killing him. Now it was final, there was nothing else to do, no way to back out of it. Tristan was dead, and Jess was a murderer.

He looked over the ground. It was covered, just covered in blood and various bits of skin and tissue. His clothes too were covered in blood. He was wearing long gloves and hadn't been cut himself so that would leave less evidence on the scene. He wondered how and if he could get away with this. He looked at the corpse and saw how devastated it looked. It didn't really look human at all.

Jess left the body how it was, not wanting to risk leaving any more evidence at the scene of the crime. He peeled off his bloody clothes and stood, naked in the woods, still holding the knife and his soaked clothing.

"Shit" he whispered aloud to himself. He had to make his way back to the car, he had been somewhat prepared, not even knowing for sure what he was preparing for. 'How do I get rid of the clothes?' he wondered. And the knife. Finally he made it back to the car without trailing any more blood away from the scene. In the car was a bag, in which he tossed the clothes, the gloves and the knife. He put on the fresh clothes he had with him, and drove. He drove as far as he could, for a couple hours. Then he stopped at a random dumpster, bundled up his bloody items and dropped them in. The whole ride he had thought about what it meant, what he had done, how his life was going to change. He thought again and again how he had been guided by anger, and fear, but had never really meant to kill Tristan.

And then, finally, he headed back to Stars Hollow, not a kid anymore but a criminal.


	11. Chapter 11

Jess slipped back into Luke's and back into bed. Luke didn't even wake up. Jess had his music on like always, and had arranged pillows to look like he was in the bed. Hopefully between hanging out with Rory and Luke seeing him sleep he would have an alibi. He only slept for half an hour before he had to be up. Trying very hard to appear awake, Jess went and took a shower. He noticed in the shower that there were still small smears of dried blood on him, that had seeped through his clothes and onto his skin.

He very carefully finished washing them off, and got ready for school. He wondered when the body would be found, and if he would ever be caught. He had tried to be careful. At this point Jess wanted nothing more but to forget it ever happened. He hated Tristan enough not to really feel guilty, just worried over his own future.

He helped Luke at the diner as he did every morning, satisfied that he didn't really look or act differently. Finally Rory and Lorelai came in. Lorelai took a seat at the table and Rory came over to the counter to say hi.

Jess leaned over the counter to give her a quick kiss. His heart was racing and he wondered if somehow she would be able to tell what he had done. But she didn't seem to think that anything was different as she ordered her food and when back to sit with her mom.

He then headed off to school, hoping to make it through the day awake. It was Friday, so he would have the weekend to catch up on sleep.

When Rory got home he asked "Did that punk give you any more trouble today?" even though he knew that Tristan wouldn't bother anyone ever again. Rory smiled at him. "No, I didn't see him all day. Hopefully it stays that way."

Lorelai was still at the inn, and Rory didn't have to work on her homework for the weekend yet, so they headed back to her house.

Jess tried to put Tristan out of his mind as he kissed her, pulled her down on the couch and wrapped his arms around her. She kissed him back, and before they knew it their tops were off and they were in a lusty embrace, pushing against each other as if it was a battle, not love. Rory gave Jess a meaningful look, but Jess pulled away. He didn't want their first time to be marred by memories of Tristan. He wanted it to be fueled by love, not blood.

He didn't want to hurt her feelings though, or make it seem like he didn't want to have sex with her, so he told her he didn't have a condom, but would definitely be prepared in the future. Rory looked disappointed but understanding.

Finally Jess excused himself, wanting to be able to get some sleep. Rory started her homework and then went to Friday Night Dinner when her mom got home.

It was later that night that the body was found. The police swarmed the scene, careful not to destroy any evidence. The news would be all over Hartford the next day, but it didn't touch Stars Hollow yet. So far, there were no leads, they would have to examine the body.


	12. Chapter 12

Rory didn't hear about it until she went to school on Monday. It was all over the place. They had finally identified the body as Tristan Dugrey. Her grandparents had tried to call to tell her and Lorelai but they hadn't been home most of the weekend. Now Rory was in shock. She couldn't believe that someone could have killed Tristan, and she felt guilty for wanting him gone. Well he was gone now, forever.

She heard snippets of conversations as she walked through the halls. "Police said it might have been sexually motivated." "Similar to other murders in surrounding states." "Who hated him that much?" "Was it a stranger?"

Rory couldn't focus on school, but for once the school was understanding. They let students have a time out if they needed it, and grief counselors were on hand. Instead, Rory left school and went home, needing to get away from all the talk. She hadn't known Tristan too well, but still the death, and more than that the violence of the death shocked her.

Jess saw her after school with red puffy eyes. He knew that the body had been found. Now it was a waiting game.

He hurried over to comfort her, but didn't make a show of being sorry. That would only create suspicion. So he just held her and told her that he was sorry that her friend had died, but that the guy had probably made a lot of enemies. Inside he was craving details, wanting to know what exactly they knew. "What exactly happened?"

"Someone found him in the woods." Rory said between sobs. "He was so cut up it was hard to identify him. Who could have done something like that?"

Jess knew, but said nothing. It didn't even feel like him who had murdered Tristan. It felt like an alternate reality Jess. It wasn't like him to actually kill someone, was it? Jess suddenly became concerned over his own character. Was that really who he was?

Over the next few days more details came out about the murder, and still the police didn't come to Jess's door. They said the crime was most likely sexually motivated because there had been semen on the body. That confused Jess... surely he would remember if he had done something like that. Without trying to seem too curious, he tried to gather any possible details. He knew better than to collect newspaper clippings.

Everyone seemed to react to the murder in different ways. The students at Chilton were scared, and walked in pairs wherever they went. Hartford too felt terrorized. Paris was sad about Tristan, but happy that there was finally some big news for the Franklin. She tried to get Rory to cover the murder, to help her write the story, but Rory refused. She felt overwhelmed by the thought that Tristan was out of their lives forever.

Here and there news trickled in from the police. They learned that there had been similar slayings, three other boys dead in surrounding states within the last two years. Was one person responsible? Jess also learned that they had wrongly estimated the time of death, which pretty much ruled him out a suspect, but still he felt sure that somehow they would find him eventually.

Jess was once again wiping the counter in the diner when Lorelai came in with news for Luke. They were both very concerned about the case because Rory went to school in the area.

"Luke they finally made an arrest in the case. They have a guy behind bars."

"Really? Who, how did they get him?" Luke asked. Jess listened carefully, curious as to who was caught.

"They matched the semen to some guy, a drifter. And get this, his story is that he did come across the body, and masturbate over it, but Tristan was already dead when he got there." Lorelai shook her head with disbelief. "Thats a likely story."

"Well good. I'm glad they got the guy." said Luke.

Jess himself felt relieved. Maybe they weren't going to find him after all.

"They still haven't found the murder weapon but the DNA evidence should be enough to convict him."

And with that news everything started to slowly return to normal, as if there had been no Tristan to begin with.


	13. Chapter 13

Now that there was a suspect, Rory was returning to normal too. She felt better knowing that there was no possible way that she could have been responsible. Some wacko had lured Tristan into the woods and killed him. It was weird, and horrible, but not too far fetched. When they conclusively linked the drifter to the other three murders as well, there was no longer any doubt in anyones mind that he was Tristan's killer and the community breathed easy once again.

Rory turned the focus of her life back to Jess. They spent as much time together as possible. Jess was happy that he hadn't lost her, hadn't lost his life for his mistake. That was what he called it to himself, a mistake. He hadn't meant to kill Tristan, after all. He promised himself that there would never be another, he wouldn't do anything like that again. He would be there with Rory and for Rory and they would deal with problems together. He had to trust her too, not to leave him when someone else came along.

They talked about these things without really meaning too. It seemed like the whole thing had brought them closer together, made them more open with each other.

Finally Jess realized that enough time had passed, they had been through enough and they were finally ready to take their relationship to the next level.

He prepared carefully for the night, and thought ironically about all the care with which he had prepared to murder Tristan. But this was an act of love, not hatred and jealousy.

They met that night at Jess and Luke's place. Luke was once again gone, and would be for hours.

They both knew what was going to happen, but now that the moment came they were nervous. Neither one had the courage to start. Finally Jess leaned over and turned her face towards his, kissing her lightly. Rory responded by kissing him back, and shifting her body a little to face his. Their kissing intensified, and their hands ran along each others bodies. Jess couldn't believe that after everything that had already happening, this was happening too. He slowly lead her to the bed, as they shed clothes along the way. When they were both in their underwear they lay down on the bed, pressed together and wanting more. And this time it didn't stop. Jess knew that Rory was very inexperienced and went slow and gentle with her, kissing down her neck and chest, her stomach, her thighs. She moaned slightly, but still looked a little scared and nervous. He finally unhooked her bra and toyed with her nipples, fingering them and finally leaning down and sucking on them. Rory thrust her hips up against him, enjoying the feeling of them so close together.

They slipped off their underwear and Jess quickly slipped on a condom, trying not to let it ruin the mood.

He felt quickly with his hands and found Rory wet, but tight. He didn't want to hurt her but her eyes invited him to go on. So, very carefully he slowly started to slide himself into her. Although she tried not to, Rory winced with pain. Jess cupped her face in his hands and kept going, still slowly but with increasing force. Rory's face didn't lose the expression of pain but she didn't tell Jess to stop. He knew that the next time it would hurt less and be more pleasurable for her. He was so focused on not hurting her that it was hard to enjoy himself as much as he normally would have, but knew that there would be plenty of time for that later as well.

They didn't continue for too long, because he didn't want her to be too sore. Afterwards she turned to him, looking worried. "Was it okay?" she asked softly.

He smiled down at her fondly. "Of course it was. It will get easier each time too. And better each time."

Rory looked relieved. "I didn't know it would hurt so much." she admitted. "But I didn't want you to stop. I just think that we need more practice."

"Definitely." Jess agreed. Rory looked down and noticed blood on her leg, and on the sheet. "Jess I'm sorry, I got blood on your bed."

"Don't worry, I was expecting that. Why don't you clean yourself up and I'll worry about the bed."

Rory nodded and walked slowly to the bathroom. She came back around 20 minutes later, fully clothed. Jess had changed the bedsheets and run the other ones under cold water to get the blood out. Then they settled down to watch tv and cuddle, and talk for the rest of the night.

Jess finally felt like everything was right in his life. He had grown up expecting nothing, and now he had everything. And he didn't have to worry about Rory leaving him. They were together, where they belonged.

He felt like it was a new day, that killing Tristan was yesterday, and behind him forever. Nobody would ever have to know the truth. And the guy that was getting the blame probably would have killed Tristan, given the chance. He pulled Rory close to him, looked down at the somewhat messy brown hair spilling over his shoulder, and imagined their future.

The End.


End file.
